All activities at this time of the year are either routine or of not much interest in general. I have a few updates and other comments, but, if the truth be told, nothing all that exciting!
I’ll begin with a couple medical updates mentioned as “upcoming” in my last post. My diabetes check-up went OK. In fact, the results were the best I have seen in recent years. I hope that keeps up over the next years.
The results of the blood draw sent to the Mayo Clinic, a follow-up to my prostate cancer episode, came back. PSA levels were unchanged from previous readings, a good thing. Next checks for both the diabetes and cancer are now 6 months away. I am glad to have those taken care of for now.
One of my old ceramic tooth crowns began to chip so I had to go to the dentist and begin the process for getting a replacement. Preliminary work was done and impressions taken, so now I wait until the new crown arrives. An appointment has been made to get the new crown fitted, about 2 weeks from now.
Holiday decorations have been taken down and packed away for another year. I miss the colorful lights in the house and around town, but at least we had some mild weather when taking off the outside lights. Inside decorations followed a few days later, including the tree. Now it is time to hunker down through the next few months.
NE Iowa weather is in for a truly frigid stretch, with several upcoming days forecast to have high temperatures below zero, night time temps in the double-digits below zero, and wind chills down to -35 degrees. (It is warmer at our lot in Colorado at this point, at an elevation of 9,500 feet.)
There is no snow on the ground as of this writing and very little chance of precipitation in the 10-day forecast, very unusual for this time of the year.
The “around the house” routine goes on with only minor tasks getting done. I touched up some paint on the upstairs bathroom walls where I had made some marks when installing the trim boards. The outside critters continue to get corn on the cob, acorns, and bird seed. The cats spend more time in the catio where it is warmer and Pam sets out food, water, and a cat box as well as turning on the space heater and plugging in a couple bed warmers. Last fall I had put up a wind-blocking tarp around the NW corner of the catio to help keep wind from blowing in through the cat entrance and that seems to help a great deal.
I sold my old Mac via eBay which helps pay for the upgraded Mac I bought late last fall. I kept the old hard drive, having purchased a used one to sell with the old Mac. The newer computer is working well, and is much faster in video and photo editing.
Our replacement WiFi router is also working well. We had been experiencing some problems with buffering and freezing so called our ISP, Mediacom. A tech came out and replaced a length of very old cable that had a joint (union) in it and that seems to have resolved the issue. Good thing, as we are watching TV more now than we do in the summer. Here is a photo of the tech and his ladder installing cable on another frigid day.
Speaking of streaming TV, we recently switched from Fubo to YouTube TV as our source. YouTube TV is a little cheaper, but it also has some channels we wanted that Fubo did not have, such as BBC News, HGTV, and a few others. The only downside is the need to create a Google account. I had one, Pam did not, so I had to create one for her. The new service is working well but takes some getting used to as the remote control functions are different between the two services.
Felicity’s and Peter’s New York home renovation continues. Electric service has been established and a certificate of occupancy obtained. Plumbing work continues, with the bathroom now functional, and kitchen work is underway.
I am going to close with this recent photo of Elmo and Snickers sharing a spot on top of one of the cat posts.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
Rescue Animals in Winter: As Himself noted above, there are three bed heaters, one oil-based space heater, and a heated water bowl plugged in at the catio location. In the yard, two more heated water bowls are kept ice free. In the house, the dog pack is missing Blondie, the pack leader, this winter. Blondie hated cold temps and pretty much got out and in forthwith to do her business — the remaining two dogs tend to wander aimlessly until directed to get their frozen butts in the house. The inside cats find the warmest heating vent or blanket available during these cold winter periods. Or snuggle together.
Heart House: Usually I’ve been busy with a renovation project of some sort for the winter. However, the two indoor projects left are baseboard trim replacement to complete the snug (downstairs) and bathroom (upstairs). Carpentry is not my superpower, so I spend my time instead cleaning and dusting all the fussy decor on shelves and counters. The Dyson vac (purple trim below) is slowly disintegrating, which resulted in the purchase of the Bissell vac (turquoise below). I TRY to stay ahead of pet hair, dust blowing through from the lathe and plaster walls, bugs crawling out from the woodwork, dirt dragged inside.
Winter of our Discontent: Our homeowners insurance will not cover a single penny of the water line replacement we have scheduled for the spring. The policy covers water line breakage or damage, not proactive replacement. The neighbors across Main Street (who are preparing their property for the modular house replacement after last year’s house fire) cut to the ground three 50+ year old healthy maple trees on the Main Street side of their lot. (Three maple trees that were part of a line of mature maple trees along Main for blocks.) Now we look out Heart House’s Main Street windows to a very clear view of a big dirt hole. It kinda makes me sick to my stomach to look out the window in that direction at the moment. A bucket of suck…
Happy Trails.